Breaking
Dance
Red Bull Dance Your Style mural in Atlanta pays homage to the city
See Chanell Angelique Skyers' mural where dance, art and culture come together in Atlanta, just in time for Red Bull Dance Your Style National Final.
Global, all-styles street dance competition, Red Bull Dance Your Style returns to the U.S. with City and Regional Qualifiers from all corners of the country to culminate in the cultural hub of Atlanta from May 16-19 celebrating the city’s deeply rooted culture and dance community. Atlanta, renowned as the Mecca of Southern hip-hop, is home to diverse and innovative street dance styles. From the Bankhead Bounce and Crank That to the Dab and Nae Nae, Atlanta’s Black community continues to birth dance trends that sweep the globe.
Chanell Angelique Skyers in front of her Red Bull Dance Your Style mural
© The Cork Bros
To celebrate the Weekender May 16-May 19, Red Bull Dance partnered with Chanell Angelique Skyers, a multidisciplinary artist of Caribbean descent, raised in Miami, FL. and currently living in Atlanta, GA to create a tailor-made mural where dance, art and culture come together. Chanell’s mixed-media practice centers around the woven energies of diasporic religions, the floral representative of her childhood, and her Caribbean heritage.
What inspired you to become an artist?
I’ve been a writer and poet for as long as I can remember, but it was during an intense writer's block during quarantine that I began to paint. Mixing my poetry with photography and paint made for dynamic pieces that honored my ancestors and allowed the emotional bloodletting I needed to heal the hopelessness and depression I felt after the Sandra Bland, George Floyd and Briana Taylor murders. That is what inspired me to create. Holding too many big feelings inside. They needed a place to go.
How would you describe your style?
I believe my style is a mix between fairy core, whimsy and dark emotion that is all tied together by the thread of spirituality.
Chanell Angelique Skyers at her Red Bull Dance Your Styles mural in Atlanta
© The Cork Bros
How did you envision/come up with the Red Bull Dance Your Style mural?
I worked closely with Red Bull during the ideation process. Once they explained what Red Bull Dance Your Style was about, I saw their passion spike specifically around the idea of dance being a common thread throughout the African Diaspora. I believe that’s why they called on me to do the mural because all of my art is in honor of those who have paved the way for us. That being said, I wanted to create black silhouettes of dancers in motion. The black encompassing all that we are, all that we come from. Traditions passed down genetically. Movement is us and is in us. The floral is in celebration of the U.S., of the historic community that the mural is placed because we deserve more beautiful things in our communities. I feel like Red Bull gets that.
How long did the mural take from beginning to end?
We got rained out 2 days, but all in all about 5 days. The floral I worked on in-studio and the painting, when it wasn’t raining, it was fast with the help of my two murals assistants, Michelle and Vic.
Red Bull Dance Your Style mural in Atlanta
© The Cork Bros
How does this mural represent both Atlanta and Red Bull Dance Your Style?
Atlanta is the epicenter of Black culture. And, Red Bull Dance Your Style, while intentional, is heavily influenced by Black culture. The mural embodies that. The silhouettes are in black because black represents the beginning; the originator. All things are born in the dark. Black is beautiful. Red Bull Dance Your Style is beautiful. Atlanta is a unicorn of beauty for Black people. And the mural represents all of that.
Are you a dancer or dance lover yourself? What are you excited to see from dancers representing the A?
I actually really love to dance. I’m always trying to go to carnival or some other event to dance all day. I have like three moves but they are fye. I also just love to dance with my husband and friends. It’s a moment of connection unlike anything else. If I had to put a word to it I would say it’s FREEDOM.
I’m excited to see what’s new in the Atlanta dance scene. I’ve seen the infusion on African dance in Atlanta. It’s beautiful! I can’t wait to see what it looks like when Amapiano meets Soulja Boy.
Red Bull Dance Your Style mural in Atlanta
© The Cork Bros
In her most recent body of work, Chanell pulls on ancestral art from the encrusted artifacts of west and central Africa and the African American art of creating memory jars. The works convey a crossroads for people of color, between this land and the one we originate from. The work was recently on view at Zucot Gallery's Say It Loud group exhibition. In between exhibitions, Chanell facilitates art workshops for children in the city of Atlanta through her nonprofit as well as around the world at wellness retreats.
Chanell has shown work in group exhibitions: Soul of Music (2022,) at the National Museum of African American Music, Mother Heal (2023), The Historic Auburn Research Library, and Extension of Self (2022), Georgia Tech University.
Additionally, Chanell won the 2023 Emerging Artist Award from the Mayor's Office of Cultural Affairs in Atlanta, GA. and walked away with top honors at the MvVo Ad Art Show and Clio Awards in New York City.
